DPRK: May "Reconsider" meeting with US

CNC

Added On May 17, 2018

A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Wednesday the country may reconsider the scheduled U.S.-DPRK summit following provocative remarks made by the U.S. officials.

DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan called for the Trump administration to show its sincerity in its willingness to meet with the DPRK side in efforts to improve bilateral relations.

Official media quoted Kim as saying the DPRK would have to reconsider attending the summit if the U.S. intent is solely to pressure DPRK to abandon its nuclear arsenal.

The DPRK announced Wednesday it would suspend high-level talks with South Korea and threatened to withdraw from the upcoming?meeting with the U.S.?over an?ongoing U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise.

Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet on June 12 in Singapore.

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But U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it was unclear if his summit with the?DPRK would go ahead.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): DONALD TRUMP, U.S. President

“We haven't been notified at all. We'll have to see...We haven't seen anything. We haven't heard anything. We will see what happens. Whatever it is, it is. We'll see what happens. We'll see. Time will tell.”

Kim made the announcement following the two-week U.S.-South Korea joint military drill, known as"2018 Max Thunder", which stared in South Korea on May 11.

Also on Wednesday, DPRK official media described the joint military drill as a deliberate challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration issued by Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

He said the drill was another demonstration of the "maximum pressure and sanctions" policy of the U.S.and South Korea towards the DPRK.